Jack and Treya had been walking through the jungle for several hours. Charger followed beside them. Sometimes he would run ahead and then run back as if making sure the way ahead was safe. Several times they had to stop and take a break; to also refer back to the ancient holographic map. It also seemed to keep their current location marked as well. It seemed that they were drawing closer to something, though Treya had no idea what.
After another hour, they got their first clue. It was something large, covered over with vegetation. Immediately, Katreya began to remove the overgrowth. When she had, she sucked in her breath. It was a broken obelisk. At one point, it had been much higher, but in its ruined state, all that remained standing was the bottom portion. The rest, no doubt, was on the ground beside it. Immediately, she began cutting away more of the overgrowth to the other half of the Obelisk. It stretched for several yards. As she kept uncovering it, she saw more and more writing, amazed that it hadn't been ruined in the jungle's humidity; that the writing still looked pristine.
"My god, look at this!" she said excitedly. "This was a monument of the last King. His name was Theadar. We have to be somewhere near the entrance to the city or even inside it if we've found this!"
"So where to now? What does that little map-thingy say?" Jack asked.
"Well . . . it says . . . We should turn and walk . . . that way!" she pointed south-east.
"And do we even know where it's leading us, yet?" he asked.
"Haven't got a clue . . . yet . . . But it has to lead somewhere important, otherwise this wouldn't have been hidden in that mud brick," she said.
"And that brings me to another thing. Why was it in the mud brick to begin with?" Jack asked. "I find that really strange."
"There could be many reasons . . . I mean; we're not even sure why this civilization disappeared. It could have been a take-over of another more hostile race. It could have been political . . . or religious . . . But no one really knows. So maybe someone was trying to protect something . . . the location of something important . . . and decided to hide it. Only someone who knew what to look for would know how to find the map!" she smiled.
"So why hasn't anyone else found this before?"
"Well, for one thing, maybe everyone died, or it was well hidden . . ."
"And what about whoever found it and took it to that shop?" he asked.
"Oh, well, they wouldn't have known what they'd found!" she replied. "My brother and I are two of only a handful of people in the galaxy that can actually read this writing."
"Oh, yeah . . ." he replied, having forgotten that detail. "Well, what do you think it leads to?"
She shrugged. "To be honest, it could be the treasury or a cache of priceless objects . . . It could be to a library . . . anything they thought was worth protecting."
"So as far as you know, it could be a pile to crap, if they thought it was worth protecting," he replied.
She smirked. "Yeah, I bet that's what they're protecting!" she finally laughed. "A big pile of poop!"
Jack couldn't help smiling either. Even though Treya still looked exhausted and tired, she hadn't lost her spirit. Yesterday's break from the search had helped her, he knew that. And now she was ready to get to the bottom of this mystery and bring them another step closer to the Temple of Light . . . and to her brother Michael, he hoped.
"Here," he said tossing her the water bottle; one of several they had packed. "Take a drink. You're looking like you need it."
With that, she sat down. For being so hot, she was still quite pale. He wondered, briefly, if he should have insisted they put off this jaunt another day . . . But he knew she wouldn't have listened. One thing about her, apparently, was once she'd made up her mind about something - especially relating to archaeology, her mind was set and she was very stubborn on that point.
She glanced over at him as he watched her. "What is it?" she asked.
"You're still looking exhausted," he replied.
She shrugged. "We've been hiking for hours . . "
"Yeah, but this is more than that," he replied. "The color still hasn't come back to your cheeks and with all the walking; your face should look flushed."
She was touched by his concern as she went to him, sitting right next to him. "Thank you . . ."
"For what?" he asked.
"For caring so much," she replied as she leaned over and kissed him.
Tenderly, he caressed her face. "I just don't want anything happening to you," he said softly.
"I don't want anything happening to me either," she replied with a playful grin. "I'd miss doing this way too much." She kissed him again, slowly and passionately.
For a moment, the jungle didn't exist and they lost themselves in each other, but finally the kiss ended and Jack smiled. "I'd miss that way too much too . . ."
"Now come on," Treya said, getting to her feet. "We can follow that up later, but right now, let's find out where this map leads!"
With a deep release of breath, Jack got up and followed her deeper into the jungle.
They walked for another good hour before more structures became apparent; all old and crumbling, covered in foliage. Occasionally, Treya would stop to read an inscription, check the map and then keep going with Charger at her heels.
"This is incredible," she said. "They used to call this the Sacred Path . . . It was used by Priests, Priestesses, Royalty and pilgrims who were given permission to follow this road."
"Have you figured out what's at the end of it?" Jack asked.
"Not yet, but I guess we'll find out real soon," Treya smiled. "According to the map, we should almost be there."
They walked a little farther and the ruins grew more immense in structure. They began dwarfing the pair. Suddenly, she stopped in front of one of the structures where there was a stone door in place.
"This is it," she said.
As Jack looked at it, he couldn't see a way in. "Okay, so now what?" he asked. "We found it, but I don't see the door opening."
To the side of the door, she saw a carving, much like the medallion she'd purchased. On a complete hunch, she pulled it from her pocket, placed the medallion against the carving; gemstones toward the wall.
Suddenly, the sound of something moving filled the air, and with a great groan the door slid open. Treya immediately stepped forward grabbing the medallion and putting in back into her pocket, but Jack grabbed her. "How do you know it's safe in there?" he asked.
"I don't," she replied. "But I'm willing to take the chance . . . This will bring us a step closer to finding the Temple of Light."
"Charger, stay," Jack said.
Reluctantly, he let her go and followed her into the darkness of the structure. But they didn't get more than 10 steps inside when the door slid shut behind them, and torches lit, bathing the corridor they were in with light. The walls were covered with exquisite murals and more of the ancient writing.
"Now what?" Jack asked. "Doesn't look like we'll be able to get out . . ."
"It'll open for us when we leave," she replied.
"You sure?" he asked.
She hesitated. "I think . . ." she replied.
"That's reassuring," he replied sarcastically.
"Oh, come on!" she said, walking down the corridor.
Soon, the corridor opened into a large chamber, decorated with gold statues of people. As they looked up, they could see a holographic image of the sky outside. They were fascinated. Suddenly, she read the inscription above the door across the room.
"Oh my god! This is the Hall of Knowledge!" she replied. "I can find out everything I want to about these people here! Including what they were really called! This is fantastic!!"
Her eyes shined like a child's on Christmas morning, filled with delight at being given the gift she'd always wanted. Jack couldn't help himself and smiled too.
"So how do we get in?" he asked.
She walked over to the door and saw a panel with the imprint of a hand. On instinct, she put her hand on it and the door slid open. She looked at Jack before going inside. He followed behind her, quickly, unwilling to get trapped on the other side of the door. As it turned out, the door slid shut almost as soon as he entered.
The chamber wasn't large; though there were several unusual panels that she assumed were some kind of controls. In the center was a raised platform. As she approached the golden panel before it, a light came down from the ceiling and hit the center of the platform.
The image of a man appeared, dressed in white. He had bronze skin, blond hair and ice blue eyes. He had black striped skin down the sides of his neck that disappeared under the white robe.
Immediately, he began to speak in the ancient language. Having never heard it spoken, Treya had no idea what the image was saying. When there was no reply to a question that had been asked, a blue beam shot out at them from the side and scanned them. The figure was still, as if contemplating something. Next he spoke, he spoke in Starfleet Standard. "I am Nataal and I am the keeper of Knowledge," he announced. "What is your desire?"
"I'm looking for the Temple of Light," Treya asked.
"Only the Royal Bloodline and those of the priestly order may know," he replied.
"The Royal Bloodline has perished . . . In fact, they perished many millennia ago. And with them, also disappeared the priests and priestesses . . . I am very sorry, but for so long, no one even remembered your people until we began to find remnants of what has survived over the many years . . I am one of a few who can even read the ancient writings."
"How did you enter the Hall?" the apparition asked.
Treya pulled the medallion out of her pocket.
"You have been given the key," he replied.
"Well, it wasn't exactly given . . ." she began.
"Destiny has seen to it that it has fallen into your hands," he replied. "You alone will be given the knowledge and with it, you will become the beginning of a new bloodline of the Arterians."
"I don't like the sound of this," Jack said softly.
But before either could move, another beam shot out from the panel and several of the other panels around the room shot beams at her as well. Treya was bathed in violet light as she writhed from the impact of the beams.
"Katreya!" Jack called out. "Katreya!!!"
But he couldn't get near her. When he tried, he heard the sound of the beams and knew that stopping them might kill her as much as trying to pull her away. The only thing he could do was wait. A minute later, the beams disappeared. Treya's brown eyes were glassy and she swayed on her feet. Jack grabbed her as she began falling to the ground.
"Hail to the beginning of the new bloodline," the keeper's image said. "All you wish to know you shall know . . ." With that, the image faded and Jack was left holding Treya's unconscious form in his arms.
back to TOC